Letters to the Editor: Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Wednesday

Nov 14, 2012 at 9:40 AMNov 14, 2012 at 9:42 AM

Tuckerman’s wind plans deserve focus

Tuckerman’s wind plans deserve focusTo the editor,

Regarding political opposition to Commissioner Tuckerman’s re-election, The Daily Telegram stated: “Tuckerman said he felt uncertain about winning another term because opponents of a proposed commercial wind energy project in the district were actively campaigning against him.”

As director of the Interstate Informed Citizen’s Coalition (IICC), the group in question, let me be direct: the IICC took no position on Commissioner Tuckerman’s candidacy. But as supporters of science-based energy policy we certainly had grounds to do so.

Commissioner Tuckerman and his fellow Lenawee Ag Advisory Board members created Great Lakes Wind (GLW). The principles of GLW included Jeff Ehlert, Larry Gould, Jim Swindeman and Dave Munson, all regular participants of the Lenawee Ag Advisory Board. Interestingly, Lenawee County just rejected Proposal 3, the 25x25 renewable energy issue, by 61-39 percent. Yet on Aug. 16, 2006, Commissioner Tuckerman and the county commission unanimously approved a 25x25 initiative for Lenawee County that still stands today. The impetus for that 25x25 push came directly from Commissioner Tuckerman’s Ag Board and the resolution in support was also unanimous.

Commissioner Tuckerman and the commissioners also approved $20,000 in taxpayer funds for GLW. That money appears to have been used for the erection of a test tower to see if Ogden and Riga townships had adequate wind resources for dozens of 50-story industrial wind turbines. GLW did not pay any personal property tax on this tower until members of the IICC pressed the issue. Finally, far from some corporate bogeyman, the IICC is nothing more than a handful of Commissioner Tuckerman’s constituents who, being troubled by county and state policy, met together at their own expense to exercise their rights to free political expression. It has become shorthand among the “good old boy” network, including the Lenawee Ag Advisory Board, to blame the “IICC” for dividing the rural communities we cherish. But ultimately, without the Ag Advisory board’s activities, there would have been no GLW, no wind project to oppose, no communities torn apart and no need for the IICC.

Oddly, one might even say that GLW and IICC share the same parent: Commissioner Tuckerman.

Kevon MartisRiga Township

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